This winter, I would like to add a couple of soup recipes to our collection, and what better way to start than with this soup from my hometown, Shanghai? When it comes to Shanghainese soups, Yan Du Xian (腌笃鲜), is pretty much the crown jewel.
It was always reserved for special guests, because the ingredients were expensive back in the day. I remember having this soup just once a year growing up—for Chinese New Year. My grandma and my aunt would make egg dumplings (蛋饺) to round things out, along with glass noodles and napa cabbage. Ahhh…it was so good!
The star ingredient is without a doubt the salted pork. If you can’t find salted pork, use Chinese ham instead. Many families like to use the combination of salted pork and ham (crazy good, I know), as the two add a wonderful earthy flavor to your Yan Du Xian.
Just so you know, Chinese ham is generally pretty salty, but salted pork can vary quite a bit. But don’t worry too much—at the end of the day…if your soup is too salty, you can always add a bit more water.
As if all these salty pork products weren’t good enough, the recipe also has fresh pork. This is actually the distinctive feature of this Shanghainese yan du xian soup. The name says it all: the combination of the salted pork (Yan, 腌) and the fresh pork (Xian, 鲜) creates wonderful, lip-smacking umami flavor, and it all comes together as it simmers (Du, 笃).
If this all seems too simple to be true, just wait. The broth might look light and clear, but it carries big flavor. If you’ve never made any of our soup recipes, you should give this one a try. It’s less common than Hot & Sour Soup, but it’s definitely a family favorite! Feel free to add some glass noodles and/or napa cabbage if you want to mix things up.
One interesting ingredient traditionally in this yan du xian soup is the tofu skin knots. These are sheets of tofu that are rolled and tied into knots, providing a really tasty, textural element to the soup.
You can usually find them in the refrigerated and/or frozen sections of your local Asian grocery store. If you can’t find them, simply substitute slices of firm tofu.
Remarks:
- If the salted pork is very salty, you can reduce its salt content by soaking it in cold water, changing the water a couple of times first.
- For the bamboo, it’s best to use fresh, but frozen bamboo also works fine. We wouldn’t recommend using canned, however, as the flavor is quite a bit stronger than in the fresh/frozen varieties.
- This soup is also a great base for a bowl of yummy noodle soup or wonton soup; just remember to cook the noodles or wontons separately!
Recipe Instructions
For more information on ingredients we use in our recipes, check out our Chinese Ingredients pages complete with pictures and descriptions and Amazon links where you can purchase them if you can’t find them at a local Asian grocery store.
*If you are using ham, cut it into ½” x ½” cubes, and try not to use more than 3 ounces. Also, remember to reduce the salted pork by at least 1/4 pound to offset the addition of the ham.
Boil a large pot of water, and clay or earthen pot, if you have one is best. While you’re waiting for the water to boil, wash and cut all the meats. Blanch them all at once in the boiling water. Drain and set aside.
In a large soup pot, add 14 cups water, ginger, and all the blanched meats. Bring everything to a boil, and immediately turn the heat to down to a simmer. Let the soup simmer for 90 minutes.
After 90 minutes, add the bamboo shoots. Bring the soup to a boil, and then simmer for an additional 30 minutes.
Now add the tofu skin knots. Bring the entire thing to a boil, and simmer for another 20 minutes. Salt to taste, sprinkle with chopped scallions, and it’s ready to serve!
Serve this Traditional Yan Du Xian soup as a starter or with rice and a veggie side as a meal!
Yan Du Xian Shanghai Pork Soup w/ Bamboo & Tofu
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh pork belly (or 2 pounds pork ribs, cut into 1” x 1” chunks)
- 1 pound salted pork (cut into 1” x 1” chunks, mine was homemade, and therefore not too salty; if you’re using store-bought, you may want to use slightly less)*
- 14 cups water
- 4 slices ginger
- 1 pound frozen bamboo shoots (or fresh winter bamboo, when in season, cut into bite-sized pieces)
- 1 package tofu skin knots
- Salt (to taste; but it’s likely that you won’t need it)
- 1 scallion (finely chopped)
Instructions
- Boil a large pot of water. While you’re waiting for the water to boil, wash and cut all the meats. Blanch them all at once in the boiling water. Drain and set aside.
- In a large soup pot, add 14 cups water, ginger, and all the blanched meats. Bring everything to a boil, and immediately turn the heat to down to a simmer. Let the soup simmer for 90 minutes.
- After 90 minutes, add the bamboo shoots. Bring the soup to a boil, and then simmer for an additional 30 minutes.
- Now add the tofu skin knots. Bring the entire thing to a boil, and simmer for another 20 minutes. Salt to taste, sprinkle with chopped scallions, and it’s ready to serve!
Tips & Notes:
nutrition facts
Hello lovely folks at Woks of Life! LOVE your blog so much – thank you for all of your work creating these amazing posts for us. I made salted pork for this dish, and had a question – I have packaged bamboo shoots I was able to find online, they’re in brine. Would they be an okay substitute for frozen bamboo shoots? Any brand of tofu knot you particularly like, or an online source you recommend? I tried one brand for hongshaorou and it wasn’t super fab, so wondering what you like. Want to make this dish perfect, with all of the work that went into the salted pork! Thank you!!!
Hi Emily, I usually buy fresh tofu knots. If you can’t find fresh knots, fried tofu puffs work too. BTW, what was wrong with the soy knots you bought? As for the packaged bamboo shoots, I’m pretty you can use them if the brine is water :-)
Thank you! After several years in Shanghai, I miss the food terribly. This soup was a special treat my friend’s mother would make. I’m not as good a cook as she is, but I was very happy to at least try to recreate it (next time I’m using your salt pork recipe to make my own!) Thank you!
We have a lot of Shanghai recipes that you can recreate, Sarah. Simply search for “Shanghai” in our search bar.
Thanks Judy will try out for Chinese New Year
Hope you like it, Iwan; this is a regional soup to the Zhejiang area.
Thank you for posting such authentic recipes. My father is 78, and very frail, but talks about shanghainese foods he ate when younger. Your site has been absolute gift. We made this today and he was so happy. Thank you again
That makes me so happy too, Anna. Sending my best wishes to your father and your family. If you want to make more Shanghainese food for him, simply search for “shanghai” on our search bar to see a lot more Shanghainese recipes. Try the Shanghai smoked fish (熏鱼）and Shanghai Wonton Soup for him. It’s really good and very authentic :-)
Hi Judy, I don’t have any salted pork. Would it be ok to substitute it with bacon?
Unless you can find bacon without a smoky flavor—actually hard cured ham would be more ideal.
YanDuXian did not come from shanghai…it came from Suzhou…
Good to know, Michael. Thank you for your input.
Hi there,
I’d like to make this recipe in a pressure cooker. How should I adjust the cooking times? Do you think it would work if I cooked it on “high pressure” and just 1/3 all the times? Ie 90 min for meat> 30 min, 30 min bamboo> 10 min, tofu 20 min> 7 min. I know it might not be exact…
Thanks!
Hi Jenny, I’m not familiar with using regular pressure cookers. I highly recommend cooking the soup on the stove using a regular pot.
Hi there,
I recently read online that bamboo shoots can be poisonous and need to be treated before consumption. Do you know if this applies to frozen bamboo shoot or just fresh ones? The article I read didn’t make the distinction. Thanks!
Hi Stephanie, I might have read that somewhere too. I believe the heat/cooking resolves that issue, so it’s important to cook the bamboo shoots, fresh or frozen.